Copper, ps. after Azurite

This specimen is a complete floater of one of the rarest American pseudomorphs, where azurite has been replaced by native copper—a phenomenon unique to the Copper Rose Mine near San Lorenzo, New Mexico. Incredibly, this replacement is not seen at any other copper mine in the world. What makes this pseudomorph so exceptional is that it began as native copper, oxidized and combined with carbonate to form crystallized azurite rosettes, and then underwent a second copper deposition that replaced the azurite, effectively returning the specimen to its original state. This rare process, where a native metal first alters to a secondary mineral and then reverts to its metallic form, is, to the best of our knowledge, unique in the mineral world. Many of these pseudomorphs were collected by George English and A.E. Foote in the 1890s, later finding their way to Eastern and European collectors. The Copper Rose Mine, inactive for decades, is geologically located in the rugged Mexican Highland region of the Gila National Forest. Its rich history in copper mining has made these pseudomorphs a prized rarity.